Joshua Hale Fialkov

Purveyor of sheer awesomeness.

Joshua Hale Fialkov is the Harvey, Eisner, and Emmy Award nominated writer of graphic novels, animation, video games, film, and television, including:

THE LIFE AFTER, THE BUNKER, PUNKS, ELK'S RUN, TUMOR, ECHOES, KING, PACIFIC RIM, THE ULTIMATES, I, VAMPIRE, and JEFF STEINBERG CHAMPION OF EARTH. He's also written television including MAX’s YOUNG JUSTICE, NBC's CHICAGO MED and NETFLIX’s AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER.

Library Journal on Elk’s Run

July 17, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

Graphic Novels - 7/15/2007 - Library Journal

Fialkov, Joshua Hale (text) & Noel Tuazon & Scott A. Keating (illus.). Elk's Run. Villard: Random. 2007. ISBN 978-0-345-49511-2. pap. $19.95. FFor a group of disillusioned Vietnam vets, isolationist utopia in a hidden West Virginia valley is "like heaven"—for a time. But small problems grow larger as the valley children mature and dreams dissolve into violence and flames. When a man tries to escape from the valley to join his estranged wife, he accidentally kills a town teen and is horribly executed by tough-ass leader John for violating the town's isolationist "agreement." Then two state troopers show up, and John kills them also. In a cat-and-mouse game in the underground mine, it's John's son, young John, who leads the other teens to escape and bring help for the rest of the town when the mine starts burning. This thriller combines dark and edgy psychodrama infusing the coming-of-age theme with a blurring of the usual good vs. evil clichés. There are no bad guys—only good intentions gone terribly over the edge. The sketchy art and ocher-crimson coloring evoke a lifestyle badly frayed and heading for disaster. The underpinnings of teens vs. parents and idealism vs. ethics make the title a good bet for classroom use. Strong language; recommended for older teens up in public and academic libraries.—M.C.

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categories / Comics, My Comics, Reviews, Reviews of Me

Douglas Adams Hyperland

July 14, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

Douglas Adams was a genius. Truly a man before his time. Case in point, Hyperland. A documentary discussing the idea of Hypertext (y'know, that whole internet thing) from 1990, that more or less explains exactly how the internet ended up evolving in a startalingly accurate vision. The idea of literary hypertext is certainly a part of the zeitgeist, especially amongst us comic folks, with our production blogs, soundtrack listings, podcasts, commentaries, and so on. It's pretty damn cool to see nearly twenty years ago is good ol' Mr. Adams explaining it all in simple, understandable, and suprisingly not dated language. It's cut up into four parts, but  here's the first to get you started.

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categories / links, Movies, Reviews, Reviews of Me, Tech

Times-Express Interview

July 11, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

Woodland Progress

Joshua Hale Fialkov went to Los Angeles six years ago to break into the motion picture industry.Although he had some jobs in the field, including a television pilot that didn't make it, the former Monroeville resident found it "next to impossible" to prove himself in a place where it's not what you know, but who you know.

Exhausted after spending 20 hours a day, seven days a week, for a month working on a reality television show, the 27-year-old decided to turn his writing and directing talents in a different direction.

That's my hometown newspaper.  Local boy makes good, eh?

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categories / Comics, Interviews, Magazine, My Comics

Tony Isabella on Elk’s Run

July 11, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

World Famous Comics >> Tony's Online Tips - Tony Isabella, Jul 10, 2007

Elk's Run

Mounting dread is the signature mood of the opening scenes of Elk's Run by Joshua Hale Failkov with artists Noel Tuazon and Scott A. Keating [Villard; $19.95] as we are introduced to the title "star" and quickly made aware things aren't quite right in that secluded hamlet. The war-scarred veterans who found it were looking to create an old-fashioned haven from the corrupt world without, but, through the manipulation of their fears and the betrayals of their leader, their dream has become a nightmare. Fittingly, it's a small group of teens - children, really - who embark upon a rite of passage that will change the town and their lives forever.

Fialkov eases us into the disturbing world of Elk's Run, but the first instances of violence in this 200-page graphic novel are relatively tame: a mother slapping a disrespectful son and an awful but not uncommon traffic fatality. It's in the second chapter that the magnitude of the town's wrongness is revealed. From there on in, the terror grows and doesn't stop until the story reaches its satisfying conclusion. With so many extended comics epics proving themselves unable to close the deal, it's great to come across one that finishes as strong as it begins.

Artists Tuazon and Keating hold up their end of the deal. The storytelling is solid throughout the GN. Their visuals convey the drama and emotion journey of the characters and the situations with which they are forced to deal. If this trio of creators have more books in them, I want to read them.

Ignore the puerile intro by Charlie Huston. It's an exercise, a mercifully brief exercise, in dropping the F-bomb for no reason. I accept such coarseness when it's part and parcel of a character in a story. I see small need for it outside the bounds of fiction, especially when one is the opening act for an exceptional work like Elk's Run.

Would you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Skip the introduction, but do read Elk's Run at your earliest opportunity. It earns the full five Tonys.

I believe that's printed in the current issue of Comic Buyer's Guide, which I decree you should go out and support.  They've been very supportive of my work over the years, and it's a pretty in depth look at comics today, written by some of the best and brightest in the business.

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categories / Comics, Comics Business, My Comics, Reviews, Reviews of Me

Thursday at Comic-Con

July 06, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

Come see me talk about Postcards and Elk's Run at Comic Con on Thursday.  I might even be wearing a new cowboy shirt.  There's also signings at their booth all weekend.  I'll let you know when shortly.

5:00-6:00 Random House: Flight/Postcards�Meet some of the most creative minds in graphic novels today, including Joshua Hale Fialkov (Elk�s Run), Kazu Kibuishi (Flight), Mike Knapp (Out of Picture), Vincent Nguyen (Out of Picture), Jason Rodriguez (Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened), as well as Villard editors Chris Schluep and Dallas Middaugh. Villard, an imprint that has positioned itself on the leading edge of popular culture, is quickly expanding its graphic novel offering with critically acclaimed anthologies and original content. Join these creators for a Q&A session and also hear the latest news from Villard. Room 10

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categories / Comics, Comics Business, Convention Appearances, Events, My Comics

Kill Your Television

July 02, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

I did it. The impossible dream.  I don't have cable for the first time since age 6.  While this is no grand acheivement for you normal folks out there, the Television has served a key part in my life and my entertainment while slaving away over my keyboard for 8 or 9 hours a day.  We only have one option for cable in our neighborhood, and because of building rules, we can't have a Satellite dish.

From the time we moved into our little two story palace in Glendale, the cable modem and television have been sub-par at best.  The internet was crapping out every 7 or 8 minutes, and the HiDef and Digital Cable Channels would do the same.  Even the basic cable picture quality was horrendous.  It got to a point where we just download or Netflix everything instead, because watching anything over the service was so fucking irritating.

So, what are we going to do now?  Well, there's a couple of things we've used to replace it thus far, and I think our shift to full-on time shifters is complete.

First, the basic stuff.  We have Netflix and Blockbuster Online accounts.  This allows us to have a non-stop stream of movies and tv shows coming in and out.  Blockbuster are a little bit incompetent (I've received the wrong disc at least 4 times over the past two months), but being able to walk over to the Blockbuster on the corner and rent Mansquito for free is a big plus.

Secondly, the interweb.  I've been using the Netflix Streaming service for the past few weeks now, and really enjoy it.  It manages to not slow down my machine too much, while providing some good background noise (like today's viewing of Across 110th Street).  The selection's not great, but, there's a suprising number of things I'm interested in and like watching, so, hooray.

I also bit-torrent or stream many BBC shows (Doctor Who, Jekyll, Life On Mars, etc.) so, that's stuff that Cable or no, I'd be doing anyways.

Which leads me to the number three... we're about 80% in to get AppleTV.  I'm concerned about the lack of HiDef signal (what's the point of having a HiDef TV without any HiDef inputs.)  But, my theory is that we can buy the box, and download season passes to all of the shows I watch on a regular basis for about the price of four months of cable service.  Considering it would take eight months of cable service to watch those self-same seasons, it seems to be a savings.  The picture quality on those big giant TV's at the Apple store seems to be pretty good, but, who knows what that translates to practically.  Now, if I could find a way to import my BBC downloads into AppleTV format and not have it do that irritating shitty framerate, I'd be sold.

And so, the mighty experiment begins.  Three days without TV and counting. Now if you'll excuse me, I got Yaphet Kotto to watch.

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categories / Products, Tech, Toys

Recommended Reads: The Highwaymen

June 27, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

Tony picked me up a copy of friend and colleague Marc Bernardin's new book from Wildstorm The Highwaymen.  It's an action packed thrill ride, in the most non-cliched meaning of the words.  It's a complete and utter fucking blast, and it's highly recommended.  It should be at your local comic book store.  You can read more about Marc and other reviews of the book here: http://rhinoplastique.blogspot.com/

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categories / Comics, Other People's Comics, Reviews, Reviews by Me

Vote Smart. Vote Fialkov. Vote Fialkov Smart.

June 27, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

TOP COW'S PILOT PROGRAM - TALKING ABOUT PILOT SEASON - NEWSARAMA

NRAMA: Can you give us any hints on upcoming issues?

RL: Sure. The second month’s slate will be Cyblade by indie-star Joshua Hale Fialkov and the inimitable Rick Mays and Velocity by the insanely prolific Joe Casey and a guy I literally had to beg to work with me, Kevin Maguire. All of these guys are new to Top Cow, and they’re bringing killer stuff to the table.

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categories / Comics, Comics Business, Friends & Collaborators, My Comics, Other People's Comics

I’d prefer if it were Hitler Porn, but…

June 26, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

Film in Staten Island basement sets off a real furor

Rare movie footage of Adolf Hitler hanging out with his buddies has been discovered in a Staten Island basement - and investigators are probing why the film was made.A reel of film plucked from the wartime rubble of a German opera house shows Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler enjoying a Richard Wagner music festival before the start of World War II.

The film, sent home by U.S. serviceman Walter Ladziak, was found 10 years ago after Ladziak's brother-in-law, who received the package, died.

Horrible Title Pun aside, what a bizarre piece of news.

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categories / Celeboratti, Politics, Weird, World News

Cyblade

June 23, 2007  /  Joshua Fialkov

Wizarduniverse.com broke the news... Cyblade - Pilot Season One Shot Cover

Cyblade: Pilot Season #1

(W) Joshua Hale Fialkov (A)Rick Mays (Cov) Rick MaysCyblade - she's training to be an elite super-spy and assassin, but who is she working for? A cereberal action thriller in the vein of ALIAS and LA FEMME NIKITA, this is a whole new portrayal of CYBERFORCE'S electromagnetic warrior. Written by Harvey Award Winner Joshua Hale Fialkov ( ELK'S RUN, PUNKS: THE COMIC ) with stunning art by Rick Mays ( KABUKI, ZATANNA) , the true origin of Cyblade begins here.

Full Color 32 pages $2.99 pilot issue Cyblade Pilot Season #1 CGC Graded Edition

(W) Joshua Hale Fialkov (A)Rick Mays (Cov) Rick MaysFor the diehard member of the Herd, looking to capture a pristine copy of Cyblade Pilot Season #1 for their collection.

CGC Graded 9.8 - $69.99

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categories / Art, Comics, My Comics, Products